Apparatus



ROTH @i LEA, Bleaching Apparatus.

Patentd May 9, 1854` N. PETERS Phollnhographer, wnhingmn. D. C.

Iio

j UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE. f

J. A. RoTHAnD aosnrH LEA, `on PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

1 p BLEAcHINe APPAA'IUS.

`j speciscatidn of Letters Patent No. 10,894, dated May 9, 1854.

To all whom, t may coacem: i

Be it known that we, J. AUGUSTUS ROTH and `JOSEPH LEAm. ofthe` county of Philadelphia and State of :Pennsylvaniap have invented a new and `usefullmprovement in the Construction of` Vats for `Treating Woven Fabrics During` the Boiling `and Bleaching Process; andwe do herebydeelare that` the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,` reference being had to the annexed drawings, in .which- Figure l represents a transverse vertical section of our improved Vat and Fig. 2 rep resents a longitudinal vertical section of the same. i i

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the several figures.

In boiling and bleaching fabrics` it is the common practice topass the `fabric through the vats in single pieces thesepieces being l i doubled up into the shape of a rope.

The nature of our improvement consists in so arranging* a series of rollers in a vat that a` considerable number of continuous strips or sheets of cotton or `linen fabric may be simultaneously drawn through the vat said fabrics being fully spread out.

The advantage of the improvement is that the fabric may be thoroughly acted upon by the bleaching or boiling solutions with a great saving in time and expense over the ordinary method.

In order to enable others skilled n the art to make and use our improvement `we proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A B C D Fig. 2 representsa longitudinal vertical section of a vat made of wood. vInside of this`vat a wooden frame E F G H is inserted extending the whole length of the vat. To this frame two series of transverse rollers are attached. These rollers are hollow metallic or wooden rollers and are shown at ala. a a aiv, &c., b b b 5 bi", &c., c c c 0 ci", Sac., are arranged transversely across the vat A B C D. These rollers have metallic gudgeons` and are so placed in the frame as to revolve freely.

`ci" about eight" inches in diameter-0l ZV l d d div about sixinches and the lower .roller `e el e e civ about four :inches in diameter. The upper ro-w of rollers f f" f f fiv of theslower series are four inches in diameter and from this they regularly in- `crease `the lowermost rollers/ic 7s` in c iai" being about one foot in diameter. The

five graduated rollers a, Z2, @,d, e co-mposing a vertical, set ofthe upper series are so jplaced as to occupyfthe intermediate space between the set of thelower series f, g, h, e', 7c and the set f', g', L, z", c,-and the set i of rollers f g 71. i la occupy the space intermediate between the rollers a, b5 c, d, e and `the rollers a b c CZ and so on i throughout the` whole length `of the vat, each verticalset of rollers belonging tothe up per series `occupying a space alternate to the vertical set of rollers of the lower series and vicel versa. r

K,\L and M, N are dra-wing and squeezing rollers. Five layers of cloth` spread out.'

across the rollers moothly are drawn inbetween K and L. The lower layer of` cloth passes down around the lower roller K uni der the roller K and then ascends` over the 1 top of the small `roller e then descends and i passes under the roller 7c and so on through t-he whole series alternately passing over the largest rollers 7c 7c .75 c, &c., of the lower `series and the smallest rollers e a c e ei" `of the upper series. The second layer of cloth passes under roller 71 and over roller ci and so on alternately passing under z' z" i i z'i", &c., and over Z d cl fZ di", &c. The third layer of cloth passes alternately under 7c la lo c 76W, &c., and over c c c 0 ci", &c. The fourth layer passes alter-` nately under g g g g gi" and over b Z2 b b bi", ac.;v and the fth or innermost layer of cloth passes alternately under f f f f fiv and over a ct a a ai", &c., as shown in Fig. 2 by theblue lines. Finally all live layers emerge together from the rollers f g it z' 7c at the end of the vat and pass between the squeezing and drawing rollers M N. By this arrangement of graduated rollers the sum of the circumferences of the corresponding rollers and e, z' and cl It and e, g and b and j and a are equal; and consequently each layer of fabric passes over precisely the same distance in traversing the length of the vat. Thus the five layers of cloth travel at a uniform rate while passing lll through the vat, are smoothly extended and ment of rollers is as follows.

containing another chemical solution.

this means the entire process of bleaching the action of the chemical solution contained in the vat. The singleI pair of drawing and squeezing rollers draw the whole five layers through the vat simultaneously and squeeze them at one and the same time. Several layers of cloth when passed between the squeezing rollers will be more ythoroughly squeezed than a single layer will be squeezed in passing through and hence there is also that advantage in causing the whole five thicknesses to pass between the squeezing rollers M N.

The operation of this improved arrange- The fabric in a series of continuous sheets is drawn by the drawing rollers K and L into the vat A B C D. lThis vat may be filled with a solution of alkaline lye kept boiling by steam pipes in the bottom of it or it may be filled with sulfuric acid and water or chlorid of lime or other bleaching or boiling solutions. The series of parallel layers of fabric being drawn in by K and L pass down around their respective rollers in the lower of series and over those in the upper series thus traversing the vat with a regular and equal velocity-both sides of each sheet of fabric being thoroughly exposed to the action of the chemical solution. After thus passing through the vat A B C D and the squeeze i rollers M and N the sheets of fabric emerge and may then enter int-o and pass through a second vat arranged in the same manner By woven fabrics through all its stages may be carried on as a continuous series of treatments of the fabric in parallel extended sheets instead of in single ropes.

Instead of having ve series in the upper series and five in the lower series arranged so as to compensate each other and allow the layers of cloth to be kept separate, that number might'be reduced to two without changing the principle of my invention provided they be graduated in diameter and arranged as hereinbefore described.

When it is desired to expose the fabrics to the action of the atmosphere the frame E F G H may be extended above the top of the vat and the upp'er series of rollers a b c d e, a c" d e', &c., may be placed some distance above the surface of the fluid and thus the layers of fabric will be continually exposed partly to the action of the bleaching solution and partly to the action of the atmosphere.

We do not desire to claim as our invention he arrangement of rollers in avat generally,

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-v i lIhe arrangement of the series of gradu- -f ated and compensating upper and lower rollers in combination with the vat for the purpose of treating simultaneously a series of parallel layers of woven fabrics-in the manner and for the purpose substantially as hereinbefore described.

J. A. ROTH. p JOS. LEA. Witnesses:

CHARLES D. FREEMAN,`

J. E. SHAW. 

